Yesterday's Enterprise
'' |image= |series= |production=40273-163 |producer(s)= |story=Trent Christopher Ganino andEric A. Stillwell |script=Ira Steven Behr, Richard Manning, Hans Beimler and Ronald D. Moore |director=David Carson |imdbref=tt0708845 |guests=Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar, Christopher McDonald as Richard Castillo, Tricia O'Neil as Rachel Garrett, Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan |previous_production=A Matter of Perspective |next_production=The Offspring |episode=TNG S03E15 |airdate=19 February 1990 |previous_release=A Matter of Perspective |next_release=The Offspring |story_date(s)=Stardate 43625.2 (2366) |previous_story=A Matter of Perspective |next_story=The Offspring }} =Summary= The Enterprise-D encounters a rift in space-time while on a routine mission. As they monitor the anomaly, the heavily damaged USS Enterprise-C, a ship believed destroyed more than two decades earlier, emerges. Instantly, the Enterprise-D undergoes a sudden and radical change: it is now a warship and the Federation is at war with the Klingons. Neither Worf nor Counselor Troi are seen or referred to, and Tasha Yar runs the tactical station. None of the crew notice the change, but Guinan senses that reality has changed, and has a meeting with Captain Picard. She says, for example, that there are supposed to be children on the ship, which of course is completely impractical on a warship. She suggests that the Enterprise-C does not belong in their time and should return to the past. Picard, who knows that this would be a suicide mission, refuses to give such an order on Guinan's intuition alone. Captain Rachel Garrett of the Enterprise-C and her crew learn they have travelled into the future. Garrett explains that they were responding to a distress call from the Klingon outpost on Narendra III, and were attacked by Romulan warbirds. While the crew works to repair the Enterprise-C and tend to the crew's injuries, Picard and his command staff discuss whether or not the ship should return to the past. Riker argues that their deaths would be meaningless, but Data suggests that it would be considered an honorable act by the Klingons. Picard discusses the situation with Garrett, who tells him that her crew will serve the Federation in the present. Picard quietly reveals to her that the Federation is on the verge of defeat and the presence of one ship will make no difference, but if the Enterprise-C were to return to the past they might prevent the war from ever starting. Garrett agrees and announces to her crew that they will return through the anomaly, but at that moment, the two ships are ambushed by a Klingon Bird of Prey. Garrett is killed, and her helmsman, Richard Castillo, takes command. During the repair efforts, Yar has become close to Castillo, but is unnerved by tense interactions with Guinan. Guinan reveals to Yar that she knows that Yar dies a meaningless death in the alternate timeline, and the two never should have met. Yar requests a transfer to the Enterprise-C based on Guinan's advice, to which Picard agrees. As the Enterprise-C prepares to return through the anomaly, three Klingon battlecruisers attack. With the anomaly becoming unstable, Picard orders the Enterprise-D to cover the Enterprise-C's withdrawal. The Enterprise-D suffers major crew losses under the Klingon barrage, including the death of Commander Riker, and forcing Picard to man tactical himself. With the Enterprise-D on the brink of destruction, the Enterprise-C traverses the anomaly. In the restored timeline, Guinan, still subtly aware of these events, asks La Forge to tell her more about Yar. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # The warship Enterpirse D investigating a radiation anomaly while the Federation is close to losing a fierce war with the Klingons. Starfleet may have regarded the anomaly as the side effect of a new Klingon superweapon. # The presence of Wesley among the crew, despite being only seventeen or eighteen. He could have joined the Academy straight from school, and studied non stop for two years, due to the urgency of the war. # The Klingons having enough resources to fight - and win - a war with the Federation, despite exhausting their resources prior to the Praxis incident decades earlier. They could have stolen resources from other races, which may have actually triggered the war. # The warship Enterprise D resembling the exploration version, as opposed to the USS Defiant from Deep Space Nine. The warship Enterprise D is used for deploying large numbers of ground troops. # Guinan cleaning tables instead of collecting a pair of TKL packs for Yar and Castillo. She is used to people being called away at short notice. Changed Premises # The battle between the Enterprise C and the Romulans at Narandra III not appearing in historical records. Details of how the Enterprise C was lost were not confirmed prior to 2366-2367. Equipment Oddities # The transporter beaming Captain Garrett to the Enterprise D while she is in a seated position. There wasn't enough room for her to stretch out before the transport. # Crusher's tricorder not detecting Castillo's life signs while scanning the Enterprise C bridge. Interference from the damaged consoles may be limiting the effectiveness of the tricorder. # Castillo - an officer from 2344 - wearing a phaser from Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, which was set in the mid 2280s. Phaser design may have come full circle. # Yar retaining her combadge. The internal workings may be identical to the version Castillo is using. Continuity and Production Problems # Riker's head pointing to the right while he falls to the floor and dies after the tactical station explodes, but pointing to the left in the close up shot a few seconds later. It turned to the left due to the impact with the floor. Nit Central # M. Jenkins on Friday, June 18, 1999 - 8:06 pm: Does Picard not have brains in this episode? Why in the world does he let Tasha Yar go back with the C, knowing that her actions would affect the timeline? So she doesn't have that great a future in the "original" timeline...and why doesn't Guinan, who knows that Tasha's supposed to die a meaningless death, tell Picard that he's violating the Prime Directive as it applies to time? Or is there no such thing as the PD in this episode? As the alternate Tasha points out, her prescence aboard the Enterprise C when it goes back in time could be what prevents the war starting in the first place, which is Picard's main reason for sending them back. Len on Friday, June 25, 1999 - 1:23 pm: First, while there HAVE been some mentions of a Temporal Prime Directive (humorously, in DS9's Trials and Tribble-ations and seriously, but in the future, in Voyager's Future's End & Relativity), we have never heard what they are - so we don't know if Picard violated them (or if he's even privy to them). Second, the timeline had already been damaged when Ent-C went through the rift - i.e. it created the alternate timeline. Picard was acting to restore the original timeline. However, in the original timeline, the Captain of Ent-C was alive and, presumably, one of the reasons the Ent-C was able to hold off the Romulans long enough to help the Klingons and earn their gratitude, respect, and a treaty. Picard's sending Yar back to replace the dead Ent-C captain may have been what any Temporal Prime Directive REQUIRED him to do to maximize the chances of restoring the original timeline. Guinan's approval of Picard's actions confirms this (Picard's comments about Guinan's race imply they may have a kind of temporal intuition that told her what should be done). Len on Friday, June 25, 1999 - 1:28 pm: Even AFTER Picard sent Tasha back with the Ent-C, OUR Tasha STILL died a meaningless death- the event's of Yesterday's Enterprise DON'T change that - The Tasha who went back never really existed because her timeline was eradicated (I know, causes a headache as all temporal paradoxes do! :^). ' # ''Brian Cardamone on Saturday, November 06, 1999 - 3:07 pm: Picard decides to listen to Guinan and try to restore the "right" timeline. To do this, the Enterpise C must travel back through the time rift and all aboard the "C" must die defending the Klingon outpost. Picard then foolishly allows Tasha to go with the Enterprise C back through the rift to die a "meaningful" death. (As opposed to the meaningless one that Guinan mentioned to her earlier) Tasha then travels back 25 years with the Enterprise C and apparently dies. In the very last scene, The Enterprise "D" is now back in the "right" timeline and Guinan is talking to Geordi in 10 Forward. She states "Tell me about Tasha Yar." Why would Guinan ask this? If Tasha died defending a Klingon Outpost 25 years earlier, she would never have existed on the Enterpise D. Neither Geordi, nor the rest of the crew would know Tasha Yar. ''Chris Thomas on Saturday, November 06, 1999 - 11:06 pm:'' Isn't it an alternate Yar that dies? She existed up to that point in time and then goes back 25 years and dies? Doesn't Guinan ask because it seems her race has an awareness that goes beyond time?' # ''Rene on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 1:32 pm: Alternate Tasha claims the Enterprise-D is the first Galaxy-class warship to be built. If that were true, shouldn't it be called "Enterprise-class" then? By Adam on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 2:34 pm: The Alt-USS Galaxy could have been laid down first but for whatever reason the "Big E" was finished and commissioned first. Its happened Brian Fitzgerald on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 11:09 pm: Especially during time of war when resources can be hard to come by. # LUIGI NOVI on Monday, June 04, 2001 - 11:53 pm: If the Enterprise-C was lost 22 years prior to this episode, does this mean that, prior to this series, Starfleet went about 20 years without a flagship? Flagship status may have been - temporarily - assigned to another ship. # When the Klingons attack the second time in Act 5, Wesley identifies the attacking ships as three K’Vort-class battle cruisers, but when we see them, they’re Birds of Prey. The battle cruisers are the larger ones with the enema bulb-shaped forward sections, first seen used by the Romulans in the original series episode The Enterprise Incident (TOS), and later, with more detailed hull panelwork in Star Trek The Motion Picture K'Vort class ships are enlarged battle cruiser versions of the Bird of Prey. # Admiral of the Fleet on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 6:09 pm: In the final battle, the Enterprise D only fired one volley of torpedoes. Come on Riker and Picard - arm those photons! They may have needed to keep their antimatter supplies in reserve for the warp drive. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Monday, July 23, 2001 - 2:22 am: When Worf and Guinan are talking about 'companionship' I thought Worf said, "Earth females are too fragile." If I did hear right then Worf is really cutting down on his options, since some of the Human females, like Dr. Crusher, were born on other worlds. He is using the term 'Earth females' to describe those of Earth (Human) ancestry. # What the hell happened to the Organians? In Classic Trek the Organians wouldn't let the Federation and the Klingons have a war, and they predicted a time of peace and alliance. Did they realize that this was an alternate timeline and decide not to interfere, because they knew Picard would make the right decision? The Organians may have disappeared by this time. # Yar says that she has been on the Enterprise for four years, but this is only the third season of the show. Was the Warship Enterprise launched a year earlier than the Starship Enterprise? That would make sense, especially if they didn't need to spend time installing and calibrating a lot of scientific equipment. (Many of the ships used for Operation Return in Deep Space Nine had large areas of empty space due to time constraints). # Yar tells Castillo that the Enterprise-D deflectors are twice that of the Enterprise-C, and then she says, "So we can stay in a firefight... a lot longer." Well, since the deflectors are twice as good doesn't that mean they could stay in a firefight twice as long? That would depend on what they are deflecting! # How exactly did Captain Garret get that wicked looking piece of shrapnel in the middle of her forehead? The explosion was off to her right and I don't think shrapnel makes 90° turns in mid air. It is possible that she could have been impaled when she was thrown out of her chair, but there are two problems with that. One, when they are cleaning up the damage on the Bridge, why leave any pieces of shrapnel lying around? Two, when people fall they usually try to break their fall by putting their hands in front of them. So was this just a really long piece of shrapnel that impaled her as she tried to break her fall, or was some member of the crew hoping for a promotion and stabbed her? More likely she had turned her head towards the explosion before the shrapnal hit. # The Klingon shields have an odd way of operating. When a phaser or photon torpedo hits the shield, we see an oval graphic around the ship, but when the one Bird of Prey blows up and another one flies through the debris cloud, we see no evidence of a shield whatsoever. Wouldn't flying through the debris of an exploded ship be really hard on the hull? (It would almost certainly ruin the paint job.) The debris was probably pushed aside by the deflectors. # Will on Tuesday, February 05, 2002 - 10:16 am: Putting aside the fact that Tasha liked Castillo enough to go back in time with him, her reasoning for going back to make up for an alternate-universe wasted death is crazy. Just because Guinan tells her what she feels is what really happened to Tasha shouldn't be enough for her to throw her life away, considering that she should have a lifetime of memories, and not be willing to throw it all away. Hasn't she met any nice men from her decade? Really, if some alien told me, "Will, in an alternate universe your counterpart died a senseless death by getting shot by a bank robber", I would say, "Poor Alternate-Will. Wrong place at the wrong time. Anyways, what's for supper?" This Tasha could just as easily have died a valiant death aboard the Enterprise-D, or even (had the war gotten better for the Federation) been promoted and given a command of her own, some day. Wouldn't this make up for her counter-part's senseless death? That's not why Tasha is going back with the Enterprise C. She is going back so she can use her tactical know how to ensure the defense of the Klingon colony long enough to prevent the war. # Castillo's comments about the Enterprise-C crew never seeing their families again is also not right. Sure, 22 years have passed, but let's do some math. Let's say Castillo is 30, his parents are 60, and his sister is 27, and his nephew is 7. 22 years latter, his parents are just 82, and his sister just 49, and his nephew 29. What's the problem here? 82 shouldn't be a problem, as in Trek universe humans have a longer lifespan than we do in the 21st century, so his 82-year old parents could live over 20 more years, and his other family members have lots more time. Granted, Enterprise-C appeared in a war-torn Federation, but surely the families of E-C's crew are spread out amongst Earth and many of her colonies. They may have been wiped out by the Klingons. # Sven of Nine on Sunday, July 07, 2002 - 9:13 am: I don't know if anyone mentioned this above (I can't be bothered to read the stuff before, it gives me a headache just thinking about temporal paradoxes) but I'm wondering: what exactly was going on in the ORIGINAL (i.e. the one we know and love) timeline while this altered present was being played out, assuming that the theory of concurrent parallel universes is true? When we rejoined our heroes in their proper places (with the possible exception of Geordi :O :O :O) at the end of the episode we see Worf report that something came through the rift then left again. Did much time pass between the start of the episode and the end in the ORIGINAL timeline (i.e. as someone such as our own Lieutenant Worf perceived it), or were Picard and Worf standing on the Bridge all this time, waiting for something to happen? KAM on Monday, July 08, 2002 - 3:43 am: My interpretation is that in the Original timeline* something started to come through the rift then, went back. As far as Picard & the rest were concerned, the time between the episode's opening scene and closing scenes was the passage of a few seconds. Not an accurate way to describe it, I think, but my attempt to explain would, no doubt, give you a headache. # John A. Lang on Sunday, July 21, 2002 - 8:14 pm: At the end, Guinan asks Geordi about Tasha Yar. How could he? She (presumably) died on the Ent-C and therefore never came aboard the Ent-D. (Temporal anomolies give me migranes) Butch Brookshier on Sunday, July 21, 2002 - 9:17 pm: John, I would expect Guinan to have heard her mentioned at least in passing by crewmembers while in 10-Forward. Merat on Monday, July 22, 2002 - 5:22 am: Tasha Yar did join the Enterprise-D. It was an alternate her who went to the E-C; an alternate her from after she died. Your right, these do cause headaches.... # bela okmyx on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 8:32 am: OK, here's one nit I haven't seen mentioned: what is Guinan doing on the warship Enterprise in the first place? She apparently has the same job as on the Ent-D (manager of 10-Forward). But, the War-Ent is crewed strictly by troops (no civilians or families) eating TKLs (their equivalent of present-day MREs {Meal, Ready to Eat}). Their food is all prepackaged. They don't need cooks, or a waitress, to serve them. That way, the space, manpower, and resources that would be used for a mess hall and support staff could instead be devoted to more combat troops. If your meals are all coming from a little foil packet, do you really need a civilian waitress to bring it to you? The alt Ten Forward is probably intended to serve as an in formal meeting place, with Guinan serving as confidont/morale officer. # Daniel Phillips (Danny21) on Friday, May 14, 2010 - 8:31 am: Here's a thought - where is Worf? he was rescued more than 20 years before this story so he should have been living in the Federation before relations broke down. Did he run off back to his people, was he not trusted in Star Fleet? He could have made a good character as a low ranking officer who was hated and pushed around by his fellow crew members. WRONG! The 'disapperance' of the Enterprise C took place in 2344. The attack on Khitomer, which led to Worf being adopted by the Rozhenkos, took place in 2346, which is also the year the war apparently started in the altered reality. This means that the alternate reality version of Worf was brought up in Klingon society. # Jonathan (Jon0815) on Wednesday, April 02, 2014 - 8:50 am: So because the Enterprise-C wasn't there to assist a Klingon outpost that was under attack by Romulans, the Klingons went to war with... the Federation? Why aren't the Klingons at war with the Romulans? They are the ones who attacked the outpost. Maybe they did, and we just didn't hear about it. =Notes= =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation